Having heart disease in women is part of my family's genetics. My Aunt Lori was diagnosed with heart disease in 2002 and endured through a double bypass at the age of 42. She monitored her weight and health her entire life, but could not escape this deadly disease. My aunt stands as a reminder today to always keep your health in check and to keep a healthy lifestyle in order to reduce the risk of getting heart disease.
Make it YOUR MISSION to fight heart disease in women.
Get the facts on HEART DISEASE:
* Heart disease is the #1 killer of American women
* 80 percent of cardiac events in women could be prevented if women made the right choices for their hearts involving diet, exercise and abstinence from smoking.
* In the United States, someone has a heart attack every 34 seconds. Each
minute, someone in the United States dies from a heart disease-related event.
* The most common cause of heart disease is coronary artery disease (CAD),
which is a blocked or narrowed coronary artery that supplies the heart with blood.
* Two-thirds of deaths from heart attacks in women occur in those who have had
no history of chest pain.
Life's Simple Seven:
seven steps that you can take to help prevent heart disease!
1. Get Active
2. Control your cholesterol
3. Eat healthy
4. Manage your blood pressure
5. Lose weight
6. Control your blood sugar
7. Abstain from smoking
Signs of a Heart Attack:
1. Uncomfortable pressure, squeezing, fullness or pain in the center of your chest. It lasts more than a few minutes, or goes away and comes back.
2. Pain or discomfort in one or both arms, the back, neck, jaw or stomach.
3. Shortness of breath with or without chest discomfort.
4. Other signs such as breaking out in a cold sweat, nausea or lightheadedness.
5. As with men, women’s most common heart attack symptom is chest pain or discomfort.But women are somewhat more likely than men to experience some of the other common symptoms, particularly shortness of breath, nausea/vomiting and back or jaw pain.
BetterU: The Go Red makeover that can change your life
1. Think lifestyle, not diet. The small choices you make each day make a huge difference.
2. Write your physical activity time on a calendar. Make an appointment with yourself - and don't break it!
3. Check food labels for the number of servings per container as well as calories.
4. Help someone else develop healthy habits. It will make you feel good and help you stick to your own plans.
5. Set a realistic weight loss goal: 1-2 pounds a week.
6. Don't let your mood control your food. Figure out why you want to eat before you snack.
Choose a BetterU by clicking on the Go Red for Women logo!
The state and national titleholders will speak on their personal platforms as well as promoting Go Red for Women during their reign. The International Pageant System is in alliance with the American Heart Association's Go Red for Women campaign to fufill the goal of bringing awareness about the risks of heart disease, the number one killer of women in the United States today.